Naruto: Starting as the Third Hokage with Tears in His Eyes

In the courtyard, instead of ordinary flowers and plants, there are lifelike works of art carved from ice.

At this moment, Yukinojo, the patriarch of the Yukino clan, stood alone in the center of this enormous ice chamber.

He wore a pristine white hunting robe, his long, light blue hair cascading down to his waist like a waterfall, and his handsome face was expressionless.

In front of me is a newly completed ice sculpture, taller than a person.

The ice sculpture depicts a ninja.

The ninja was kneeling on the ground, his body contorted in a painful posture, his face frozen with an expression of despair and resentment.

Dozens of sharp ice needles were stuck in his body, each needle precisely avoiding vital points while causing maximum pain.

Yukinojo stretched out his slender fingers and gently brushed away a bit of ice from the ice sculpture. Looking at his masterpiece, a look of satisfaction finally appeared in his cold eyes.

"A perfect work of art."

He murmured softly that, for him, killing was not the kind of savage destruction that the Kaguya clan engaged in.

Killing should be an art.

It is a process of freezing the flame of an opponent's life at their most brilliant moment, transforming it into eternal beauty.

Yukinojo looks down on Kaguya Soranosuke, that barbarian who only knows how to solve problems with brute force.

In his view, although Kaguya's clan's Shikotsumyaku (Corpse Bone Pulse) was powerful, it was too crude, full of blood and filth, and had no aesthetic appeal whatsoever.

True power should be like the ice-based techniques of their Snow Clan.

Elegant, glamorous, yet deadly.

However, what annoyed him was that in times of peace, this elegant art had no place to be used.

The Snow Clan is being marginalized.

In recent years, the village's tasks have mostly consisted of trivial matters such as escorting and reconnaissance.

These tasks fail to demonstrate the value of the Ice Release Kekkei Genkai.

The young people in the clan gradually lost their awe and pursuit of Ice Release, and began to learn more "practical" Water Release and Taijutsu instead.

This feeling is like watching a masterpiece of art, covered in a thick layer of dust over time, gradually forgotten.

This is something I can't stand.

He longed for a war.

I long for a grand stage where the beauty of ice magic can once again shine brilliantly before the world.

"jingle."

A clear bell rang out from outside the ice room.

Yukinojo's eyebrows twitched instantly; someone had interrupted his thoughts.

He slowly turned around and saw a member of the Snow Clan, also dressed in white, kneeling respectfully at the entrance of the ice chamber, not daring to step inside.

"Clan Chief, the messenger of Lord Mizukage has arrived."

"Let him in."

Yukinojo's voice was completely calm.

A moment later, the ANBU ninja responsible for delivering the message entered the ice chamber.

When he saw the lifelike yet deathly ice sculpture in the center of the ice chamber, his pupils contracted and he subconsciously began to examine it closely.

That's so true.

You could even read the ninja's pain and despair before his death from the face of that ice sculpture.

"What is it?" Yukinojo's cool voice rang out.

"...Yes, Clan Chief Yukinojo."

The messenger from the secret service snapped out of his daze and quickly presented the scroll containing the meeting notice.

Yukinojo walked gracefully forward, extended two slender white fingers, and gently pinched the scroll.

Instead of opening it immediately, he turned around and walked back to the ice sculpture.

"Do you know?"

He suddenly spoke, as if addressing a messenger, or perhaps talking to himself, "I've named this piece 'Withering'."

"I used eight different Ice Release ninjutsu to create seventy-two wounds on his body. The depth and angle of each wound were precisely calculated. The purpose was to allow him to bloom in the most perfect way—the Flower of Death—even amidst the greatest pain."

The messenger from the secret service felt his scalp tingle and broke out in a cold sweat.

He now felt that compared to Kaguya Soranosuke, that madman, the elegant and handsome man in front of him was the real devil.

Yukinojo slowly unrolled the scroll in his hand, his emerald eyes quickly scanning its contents.

"High-level meeting... Tailed Beast rampage..."

A slow, elegant smile curved his lips, a smile that was full of calculation.

The long-awaited opportunity has finally arrived.

That idiot Kaguya Soranosuke will definitely jump out and shout that he wants to fight and war.

As for Master Yuan, he will stubbornly stick to his peace rhetoric.

This is a perfect chessboard.

And he, Yukinojo, will become the one who decides the course of the game.

He wanted to use this opportunity to bring the entire Hidden Mist Village onto the chariot he desired.

He wanted to find the most magnificent stage for the Snow Clan's Ice Release technique.

Yukinojo gently blew a breath at the ice sculpture called "Withering".

call--

A visible chill was exhaled from his mouth, covering the surface of the ice sculpture and condensing into a layer of even more crystal-clear frost, making that despair seem even more eternal.

"It's time..."

He turned around and gave the nearly frozen ANBU ninja a smile that was both elegant and chilling.

"Let the world see this again..."

"What is the true beauty of ice and snow?"